Infographic - Countries Where Private Security Outnumber Police

Whether they're patrolling shopping malls, conducting screening at airports or protecting VIPs, private security guards have become an increasingly common sight across the world. 

In many countries, they are armed with handguns and even dress in uniforms similar to the police.

The sector has experienced huge growth in recent years and today there are an estimated 20 million private security workers worldwide while the industry is worth approximately $180 billion. That is expected to grow even further to $240 billion by 2020, greater than the GDP of 100 countries including Portugal, Romania and Hungary.

According to research conducted by The Guardian, half of the planet's population lives in countries where there are more private security workers than police officers. more

Click to enlarge.

It is likely these are very conservative statistics, as they don't include security specialists, like: professional security consultants, Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) specialists, private investigators, computer security specialists, and people working in the alarm and video surveillance sectors. ~Kevin